I recently bought a 98 Civic EX coupe. I did some work on my old beater Toyota, but nothing having to do with performance-more just to keep the junker running.
So the scenario is this - I have maybe five hundred bucks give or take, and I'd like to know what the first logical step would be to make the car a bit quicker (ok, more fun to drive.) No, I don't want to swap the engine, nothing like that until the engine blows up or the car is paid for in full.
And, yes though I'm asking a basic question, my knowledge of things automotive isn't completely basic. If there are parts that make sense buying used in a forum like this, I'd like to know; if there are parts that are best bought new, I'd like opinions on that too.
A few other things...
-other sites besides h-t
-don't care for coffee can exausts, prefer "throaty" sound
-employed as a delivery driver, and vehicle is work car, so reccomendations must be practical
-i'm a poor *** college guy
So, if you've got a minute and an opinion, help me out.

 

if u want it be funner to drive i would get some coilovers and lower it for better handling

 

A friend had mentioned something like that, but he suggested springs, not coilovers. They're not one in the same, or are they? He found a generic used set of used springs (on this site)
that would fit and lower the ride a bit for $60. Does this sound like a good deal?

and on an aside,
what's this business with b16a/b/z
what the hell is in my engine bay
to think i was content to know it was a 1.6 L v-tec?

 

If the engine is stock you should have a D16Y8.

there are two types of coilovers. There's sleeve coilovers that slip over your shocks and you can adjust the ride height yourself, and there's full coilovers that have shocks and adjustable springs together in one unit.

For a daily driver I would go with only springs. you could get sleeve type coilovers, just don't cheap out. In either case you might want to consider getting performance shocks because odds are, you'll blow them out.

As far as other mods, a short ram intake will make your car sound faster, but it only adds a horsepower or two. But sometimes when the car sounds faster, it makes it funner to drive.

 

I would suggest a set of shocks, and springs. Getting decent coilovers, and having them adjusted properly would be 4x that. A lot of people buy coilovers, and adjust them by eyeballing. Coilovers were designed to allow you to corner weigh your car dispite what some manufacturers lead you to beleive. Your car weighs different at all 4 corners, and evening them out can greatly increase your handling. Especially left to right. Throwing a set of coilovers on, without corner balancing will most likely throw the weight off even more than they already were which will have a negative impact on the handling. A lot of people never consider this. The center of gravity is lower, so the car does handle somewhat better. On the other hand it's not balanced, makes it unpredicatable, and unsafe IMO.

 

shocks+springs=$?

 

Why did you mention b16?

Is there a b16 in your car or are you unsure? Like someone already said there SHOULD be a D16 but anything's possible with a used car.

 

get strut bars and stuff those improve handling drastic and also dont buy no cheap *** springs. named brand man. who cars about the price make sure they are named brand even if they are cheap.. and i like the ride on my H&R springs way better then coilovers. especially if they are cheap ones.

o yea and if u replace the struts and the springs at the same time u wont even have to kill urself getting the stock compressed to hell springs off the car.

 

About the b16 thing,
I was just uninformed and taking a guess.

I appreciatiate the suspension tips.
Any ideas about the motor? Another thread quoted a 5-10 or so hp gain on a short ram intake-sohc v-tec. (i think his post name was spade, and he seemed knowledgeable)
I guess I'm less eager to mess with the exaust because it appears brand new. But if that is the way to go, I'd like to hear it.
Again, thanks for the replies.

 

Not sure if your car is a manual or not BUT...
I found my skunk2 dual bend short shifter made my car a LOT more fun to drive!
if you dont want to spend a lot of money to go swap or turbo, theres not too much cheap stuff to make that engine faster...
you may want to do what others suggest and build up your suspension, our cars can handle quite nice for FWD with the right setup..
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, and we can chat somemore.

 

if you want suspension the best bang for the buck is definitely omnipower full coilovers...$650 for a great setup

 

thought i'd add it's a manual
my first
think i could get greatest power gains from learing how to drive it better

 

O dog gangster needs to take his *** to great lakes dragaway or do some nasa events at miller park and to tell what engine you got look at where your engine and tranny conect there will be a flat part on the block that has a code it should read d16y?


Modified by dirtydreds at 2:50 PM 9/8/2004

 

Thanks for that one, Tom.
After gathering a bit of info, I think I'd like to find a comptech icebox to free up the breathing a bit. Springs and shocks could be on the horizon after the airflow is freed up.
So if anyone knows where i could find one cheap (read:used) let me know.
I'd post it in the classified section but the system won't let me, and people around here are **** about that kind of stuff (maybe understandably)
So if anyone would help me out, I'd appreceiate it.
(i can't even pm anyone if i did see something)
oh, and offers of other intake would be considered

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bjo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
-other sites besides h-t
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Don't need them. I'm not joking. Anything you could possibly need to know about your car is on this site. Its the largest Honda forum on the internet, and the 16th largest messageboard in the world. Search for what you need here, and the topic will probably include links to other relevant information.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bjo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> So the scenario is this - I have maybe five hundred bucks give or take, and I'd like to know what the first logical step would be to make the car a bit quicker (ok, more fun to drive.) No, I don't want to swap the engine, nothing like that until the engine blows up or the car is paid for in full.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=871525

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bjo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
-don't care for coffee can exausts, prefer "throaty" sound
</TD></TR></TABLE>

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=856670

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bjo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
-employed as a delivery driver, and vehicle is work car, so reccomendations must be practical
-i'm a poor *** college guy
So, if you've got a minute and an opinion, help me out.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, but see rule #5

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Forum Rules &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
5. "What should I do next to my car?" topics are a BIG no-no.

We are not a personal consulting service. We do not know your financial situation, your motor preference, or your aesthetic tastes. Do what YOU want and/or can afford to your car. Topics with questions regarding a specific product are fine, but broad questions asking for help on deciding what you should do to your hott ride next are not permitted any longer.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Thanks for the links.
I did do my share of looking around before I joined the forum and did read most of those threads and many of the faq's.
I was simply looking for advice on where to begin in my particular case. So I told you my financial situation, my tastes, and my general level of experience, contra #5.
So, for those with more advice, especially about freeing up the breathing and making an initial purchase or too, I'd like to hear from you.